Water under the house :(

[46philh]

We have discovered 6 inches of water under our house at the rear of the property.

The void below the floor is about 5 foot.

The floor joist are rotten. (They were replaced 6 years ago before we moved in) - Now thinking those bits of joist might not have been replaced

1. We leave at the bottom of a hill and our garden at the rear slopes down.
2. There is a stream at 30 mtr at the end of the garden.
3. There has been a lot of rain in the last month but the joist are rotten so being happing over a number of years ?


Who should we contact to investigate the matter ?


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[HERTS P&D]

Where does that kitchen waste pipe go?

Fit a sump pump, job done!

Andy

 

[conny]

Looking at the elbow it looks like it is discharging into the void! Probably missing a section of pipe to enable it to drain into the grid on the right.

Sump pump will empty it but you need to know where it came from originally. Does it smell rancid? Are there any traces of 'soapy' water residue in there? Or small pieces of food which may have been washed down the sink. If so then you may have a problem with your drains and it is backing up into the void. Until you remove the standing water you will not find where it may be coming from.

 

[46philh]

No bad smells. Will check further details of water tonight when I get home.

Not had problems with drains and when checked a couple of times over last summer they ran fine.

How long does it take joist to rot ?

What I don't know is if I have two problems or not ...

1. Poor sub-floor circulation.
2. Water in the sub floor

 

[conny]

If the joists have rotted within 6 years I would suspect the water table is quite high and they have actually been immersed for some considerable time. Normal damp should not have rotted them so quickly, especially if they had been treated beforehand.
What I would do is to dig a hole in the garden to the same depth or a little more a short distance away, say within 3 foot, and see if you hit water or how long it takes for water to rise up. If you hit water or it begins to fill within 24 hours I would suggest its ground water. If not then you will need to start looking at other possible causes.

 

[TheVictorian]

Is it me or does that water look greyish like it has come from the kitchen?

 

[Wolfie1969]

In the 3rd picture it looks like the top of a waste pipe just sticking up above the water?

Maybe the kitchen drain is meant to connect to that?

W.

 

[maltaron]

As has been mentioned you should find out where the water is coming from, in case of leaking drains. However, if it's due to the water table it will do no harm and has certainly not caused the joists to rot. Timber would not rot completely away like that in 6 years even if chucked in a river. It does seem strange that 2 of the joists look OK but one is totally rotten and one on the way to being rotten. I would consider that the renewed joists were reclaimed timber.

 

[46philh]

In the 3rd picture it looks like the top of a waste pipe just sticking up above the water?

Maybe the kitchen drain is meant to connect to that?

W.

Off cut

 

[46philh]

Took a couple of samples to send off to water company. Looks pretty clear water.

There was a bay at the back of the house with the drain outlet for the kitchen but we don't think it is kitchen waste or from the drains. There was a washing machine in the bay section and a bet man would put money on that but there was no evidence of water on the floor when it was moved out. We have never had any evidence of the bay leaking.

We know some joist were replaced under the kitchen floor. We don't know if the ones under the bay were renewed or not. My builder seems to think they look quite new and not 50 years old when the house was built.
The other thought is who ever replaced them did not use the correct timber but I don't know.

Check mains water pipe and then comes in towards the other end (front) and looks ok.

We do live at the bottom of a large hill and the grass (clay) garden is always boggy at the back in winter.

Spoke to neighbours last night and they don't think they have had any problems.

We are thinking about putting in a sump pump or at least the preparation pipe work etc. but realise if it is not ground water need to find where it is coming from.

Will get it pumped out monitor for a long time.

 

[46philh]

Looks like it is ground water and a small side wall under the floor looks like it has bitumen paint on it as if the previous owners had experienced this in the past.

Spoke to BC and one said fit a sump pump and another said to fill the void under housev and over site concrete to ground level.

Neither been to see it however.

 

[46philh]

The drive and garden across the front of our house is being replaced in the next few months.

Would a French drain across the front of the property help ?
Would it need to be a deep as the footings ?

If so would need to pump it up to a hight level to get down the side of the house to the back.

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[ree]

You say that your property is located at the bottom of a slope and that a stream runs downhill, below the house?
The ground at the front of the house is higher than at the rear?

What is your final finished project for the whole rear area on both sides of the bump-out - can you scan a brief plan view?

The joists have rotted from lack of cross ventilation in a damp atmosphere. There appears to have been only one air brick in the bump-out.

 

[46philh]

Cross flow ventilation improved 300%

Had heavy rain last night and there is now water under the house again.

Think we will be fitting a sump pump. At the moment we have no idea how to resolve the water under the house.


Sounds like / a guess - there could be be an old land drain running under our house!


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